The election to recall the governor inched closer to becoming a narrower race over the weekend, with the exit of one high-profile candidate and the release of a poll that contrasted the popular support of the Republican front-runner. GOP hopeful Bill Simon dropped out of the race on Saturday, citing the need for his party to consolidate behind one candidate. Other developments in the recall election have the latest Los Angeles Times poll showing that Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante – the prominent Democratic candidate with ever-increasing party support, leading Republican leader and media darling Arnold Schwarzenegger by 13 percentage points. Meanwhile, the current governor kicked off an effort last week to increase his favor among voters in what may be the final weeks of his term.
Davis on campus Gov. Gray Davis came to UCLA on Aug. 19 to plead his case before a couple hundred supporters in Ackerman Grand Ballroom, marking the first time the governor has campaigned aggressively against the recall. Mounting the stage to cries of “Viva Gray” and “No recall” from his supporters, Davis accepted some responsibility for the state’s energy crisis and $38 billion budget shortfall. But he also lashed out strongly against his critics, accusing Republicans of trying to hijack the state government and portraying himself as a victim of a broad “right-wing conspiracy.” “What’s happening here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win,” he said. Ted Costa, head of DavisRecall.com, one of the leading advocates of the recall, dismissed Davis’ conspiracy defense, saying the recall effort extended across party lines. “We’ve got a lot of good company in our right-wing conspiracy, because 30 percent of them are Democrats,” he said. “Anyone who thinks (Davis) bungled the energy crisis, anyone who thinks he fell asleep at the switch, they’re suddenly part of the right-wing conspiracy?” he added. “I don’t think so.” Davis also affirmed his commitment to education, saying his top three priorities were “education, education, education” and citing that test scores and teacher performance had risen under his watch. But some questioned Davis’ true commitment to education, especially in light of millions of dollars in budget cuts to the University of California and the California State University system. The UC was cut by $410 million in the state budget, which has led to a 30 percent student fee increase, cuts to a slew of student services, and a possible freeze in enrollment growth for next year. Anica McKesey, president of the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council, questioned Davis’ avoidance of the issue of higher education. “It was a bit deceptive of him not to mention the 30 percent fee increase that UC students have to deal with,” she said. Other UCLA students were also skeptical of Davis’ campaign pitch. “It seems ironic he came right now when we have to pay increases in fees,” said Katie Tshann-Grimm, a fourth-year physics student. “It doesn’t seem we are feeling the help in education.” But Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesperson for Californians Against the Costly Recall, defended the governor’s record on higher education, blaming the dismal state economy for the recent round of budget cuts. “The governor is counting on the economy coming back, and then we’ll reaffirm our core commitment to higher education,” he said. Republicans, however, say Davis’ misspending of state funds compounded poor economic conditions. “He has spent money. He has wasted a lot of it,” he said. “He’s like the husband that goes out and buys a new car for his wife with money that needs to go to the mortgage,” said Duf Sundheim, chairman of the California Republican Party. Sundheim attended Davis’ speech and was quickly surrounded by supporters of the governor, who aggressively shouted in his face. One man reached into his wallet and showed Sundheim a picture of his daughter, whom he said was being hurt by the money going towards the recall. Sundheim was undeterred by the angry crowd. “It’s all democracy at work; everybody has a right to express their feelings,” he said. Also last week, Schwarzenegger and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth revealed their economic plans for the state, which faced a $38 billion deficit this year and a projected $8 billion deficit for 2004-2005. Ueberroth proposed 5 percent across-the-board cuts and a one-time tax amnesty of $6 billion, which has been disputed by several economic analysts. Schwarzenegger avoided detailing specific plans for the state economy, but made it clear that he would not raise taxes. This puts him at odds with one of his economic advisers, The Anderson School at UCLA’s forecast director, Edward Leamer, who is in favor of raising taxes to help rebuild California’s credit, which has dropped to worst in the country. Bob Mulholland, a campaign advisor with the California Democratic Party, dismissed Schwarzenegger’s plan for the budget as lacking substance. “It was all steroid and no muscle,” he said. Mulholland also said neither Schwarzenegger nor Ueberroth would be able to keep their promises not to cut public education funding without raising taxes, especially given the financial difficulties facing the state. “There’s no magic wand where some Republican can come up here and say: We’re going to make sure that public education has funding,” he said.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.